Whilst thinking about this game, I’ve been nosing around the Birmingham Mail site and came across an Erdington band’s version of the song “Fairytale in New York”.
I didn’t listen to it, but it’s apparently quite good, as it’s typically self deprecating, which is what we Brummies excel at.
Which got me to thinking that if you didn’t laugh at our current situation, you’d have to cry.
Which is exactly how I feel at the moment.
I spoke to my very knowledgable Derby mate today, saying that we had no hopes of getting anything tomorrow and his banter aside, he totally agreed.
Then again, he also agreed with me that getting rid of Bruce would be a massive mistake for us, so what does he know, given that it seems I’m in quite a small minority at the moment?
It’s the Pulis factor, isn’t it?
You just know he’s going to at least make Boro difficult to score against, even though he’s only been there for five minutes.
Couple that with the fact that even if we create anything, we don’t look like we are going to score many and I can only see this going one way.
Thinking positively, Bruce has said we will be better.
Hmm, how’s that going to work then?
Can we expect to see a totally different midfield, with some pace in it?
Two hopes and my bet is that his big idea of a change-up will involve not playing Whelan and Jedinak together again as defensive central mids. Whoopy doo!
It’s all ok though, as Wyness has told us that the lads haven’t had their day off and have had extra training instead.
Really?
REALLY?
I suspect it’s the training that is totally wrong in the first place, given that we can barely pass the ball, let alone pass it and look for the return.
Ah, it’s all basic stuff and you certainly don’t need me to tell you about it.
I could rattle on about who’s available and who isn’t, but I’m pretty sure you all know that too, so instead, I’ll just comment on the Express and Star’s article, where, while the headline is about Terry doing 6AM sessions, it appears that five or six players are doing their “B” coaching licenses. It would seem that the club has also applied to hold the course at Bodymoor Heath.
That’s all very well and good, except I wonder what they’re going to learn, given that our coaching seems abysmal and has oft been criticised by us fans?
My point here is that I’d much rather these players put 100% into getting us promoted and worry about the coaching side later, after they’ve actually achieved something.
It makes me wonder where their priorities are and if indeed that’s the carrot that Bruce offered them to come to the Villa in the first place?
I can’t see past a 2-0 defeat.
And strangely, I find myself not quite laughing about it, but just shrugging it off.
It’s what we Brummies do isn’t it?
Take the mickey out of ourselves, take it on the chin and moan.
It could always be worse. You could be a Blues fan, where they’re having hysterics.
A bit tongue in cheek, that.
I hope you don’t think my humour is too black.
Our poor run continues and no doubt the knives are being sharpened even more.
Will fan power win out?
I seriously doubt it, at the moment.
I’ve seen enough to convince me that extra training or cracking a whip at that shower will help, yes your right we won’t get a result in our favour tomorrow, Bruce in the past had better players to get the achievements he got in promotion, and might I add luck, I’ve no belief anymore that he will get us up, he has shown his hand by bad selections, in management with excuses I’ve completely no Faith in Bruce what’s so ever. I’m seeing fans walking away again and that not good for the club, even I walking with embarrassment on what’s gone on at the club, we are nothing but a nursing home for over paid footballers and managers taking the club’s money in jobs, sad isn’t it, all them year thrown away with stupid over paid boards members.I dread tomorrow coming. Result 2-0 or 2-1 .
I read a headline that mentioned Bosko Balaban (remember him?) was our worst signing ever. Really? I think our £25m duo Ross McCormack and Scott Hogan are pushing him close. In all 3 strikers they were prolific for their previous clubs and in Balabans case he went on to score plenty when he left. Which begs the question about our scouting. If we have a style of play which in Bruce’s case is slow and unimaginative then why sign players who both came from good ‘footballing’ teams in Fulham and Brentford who play a completely different style to us. Needless to say if Bruce stays then it will always be Davis or Kodja when he is fit who will play and our £25m misfits will be sold for a huge loss to (probably) be prolific for their future clubs.
doom and gloom is everywhere, i was wrong about us being promoted. i was wrong about bruce. i didn’t expect this to happen again this season. where our season takes a downward spin out of the promotion race.
what i am not wrong about is the squad bruce has built SHOULD have been better, if they had a school report on half season. it would have read.very disappointing. should be doing much better.
bedger is spot on in 100% effort is lacking. i said it before, we do not work hard enough as the opposition. teams like millwall derby and leeds sheff utd and brentford,all worked the socks off to knock us out of our strides,
working in possession we just do enough, which is not enough. watch other teams in this division, all move to make spaces for the man on the ball to have options, working without the ball is also important we can’t even do this. we press in ones and twos at best, this lasts 10 minutes and then we back off and off all the way back to our 18 yards then engage,
just watch the highlights and you can see this. against brentford we only worked. last 10 minutes against leeds 2nd half, sheff wed last 10 . we don’t work anything near what these other teams do. its like we are above hard graft.
lastly mistakes are the telling thing. goes back to wednesday game. we cant defend basics. corners are a total write off. players are not marking players are allowing opposition to get a run on them. they are not attacking the ball. passing mistakes are down to laziness. players not moving when the opposition press, lack of passing options makes the man on ball hit long or pass into touch
hogan is miles better than Balaban. hogan will defiantly leave and score goals. its totally how we use him. all strikers are judged on goals. but all strikers rely on his team to supply the chances to score his goals.
yes you get strikers that can score by themselves, but they will always score more from help from the team than by themselves.
we just need to supply hogan, watch his goals for brentford is all you need to do. put the ball just behind the opposition defence, like grealish did last game. he will get onto that and score. thats his game, he lives on the shoulders on defenders. get the ball into the box with quality, across the goals from either flank,
Enough is enough!
Our clamour for stability in a manager now has us lumbered with one no longer fit for purpose.
Dr Xia is now paying for his rush to support RDM financially, only to see virtually all the players purchased at the start of his tenure transferred out / loaned out or rotting away at Bodymoor Heath.
Again Dr Xia backed his new manager, Steve Bruce. Now we see expensive purchases not playing in their correct position or the style of play not suited to them.
In the meantime the club haemorrhages scare financial reserves on Agbonlahor, Richards and McCormak. This issue is further compounded by costs of players such as Elphick, Bree, De Leat, Lansbury, Bjarnason and Hogan. All of whom the manager does not know how to use, motivate or just does not want. 4/6 were our manager’s buy.
Next comes the muddled transfer policy. Hutton is right back and De Leat can also cover this position. So, with fast running out funds the manager acquires firstly Bree and then Elmohamady. Meanwhile the left back position has Taylor and no other.
Experience always wins! Unless you sign for Villa. No opposition like defending against pace. At his prime Agbonlahor terrified the opposition despite having an erratic end product. Acquiring Terry was an excellent achievement and he adds value to Villa. But Jedinak and now Whelan take all pace out of the midfield. Even worse is the manager thinks it appropriate to play both in the same team. I struggle to find anything positive about Whelan’s contribution.
What about the style of play? What style I hear you say? There is no style. The plan is at kick off the forwRd kicks the ball back to the midfield, who then pass back to the centre halves, who pass it to the left / right backs. After much pussyfooting around the ball is pumped up forward for either Snodgrass or Adomah to chase. And that’s it. If we go a goal up, we go defensive. If we go a goal down we lack urgency. Mr Bruce has now had nearly a season and a half to get this right. His footballing DNA is missing a chromosome. Quite simply, football should be about winning and if you can’t win go down losing playing attractive football from a committed team. None of which is evident.
So the future. Bleak. No promotion and even less finance to use to our advantage. Will Dr Xia stick around and pump more money into the club? Will Bruce be sacked or will his contract be run down? Will a fire sale of players occur at the end of the season? Will our future home grown players with potential be sold before ever having the chance to be “one of us” – Green, Doyle-Hayes, Suliman, O’Hare, Davis and Grealish. Don’t forget our manager will always buy a Bjarnason over really truly backing one of our own.
I write this just before New Year’s Day. A time for hope. Our hope will come at the end of the summer when the current manager will be relieved of his duties. Then time for a new spoonful of optimism. Who this is, I don’t know!
UTV
Exactly Sidforever,
He’s been with us for twelve months and his perception of football is nil. I’ve have just about enough of his mentality of the game and club, he’s killing my love of the game and its hard not to walk away.We get a perfect owner and a duff manager, the whole of his coaching staff should be saked for the performance we get and injuries they have in training and on the pitch I see Adomha back and last week he done 19 minutes and got injured, we have boys not men and that’s our problem, in the 50s I’d have knocked 7 kind of shit out of that lot problem is you cannot do that today shame that.
Until we start showing some fight on the pitch we won’t get anywhere.
I commented after the Ipswich game that for the first time in a long time we had players who got stuck in. Since then it’s been the same old same old.
Players come to the club and seem to instantly take a don’t give a shit mentality. Other than Hutton to be fair.
If we showed the same commitment, passion and desire as our opponents every week we’d be, along with Wolves, tearing this division up.
Like most I can’t see past a defeat today. Suppose living in hope is the best option.
3-1 Boro.
our squad is naff and unbalanced because we swap managers willy nilly. our style is no different now than villa 4 or 5 years back. what fans are moaning about at villa now, is no different to the same moaning we were all saying 4 or 5 years back. so we can hang bruce or lambert but we would still be shite.
what is happening at villa, has happened before bruce and rdm and garde. list goes on. we need fixing who can fix us,
I can’t see us getting anything from today’s game. I don’t expect to see any surprises in Bruce’s team selection. If he was to play Davis and hogan together then you would expect grealish to be sacrificed. I think hogan and grealish would work if supply to them was quicker so drop whelan and put houriane in. Hopefully Andre green will be fit soon so we can switch snodgrass for adomah which will offer more pace going forward.
my prediction for this game. boro were looking like they will thump somebody. wasted loads of chances against wednesday, different manager. i would expect them to not be as bold going forwards. but villa can’t defend a corner for their lives.
3 or 4 nil will be a good result to end the year
kids on the bench 🙂 jake doyle hayes is a class player vision beyond his years. ohare , murhpy and bree grealish
i would wave the wave flag this year and blood the kids, try to sell everyone thats on too much money. we could be be in financial trouble if the dr decides to sell and get out.
Grealish without doubt our best player over the last 3 games and he gets dropped for Onomah
GET BRUCE OUT!!!
I’ve tended to be supportive of Bruce but, for the life of me, I can’t understand today’s selection. Why drop Grealish yet play Onomah – doesn’t make any sense. Whelan andTaylor missing – dropped, injured, sick or perhaps they just got lost!
he is freshening things up it seems.
damn no link probably for the best i hate horror shows
Onomah instead of grealish? Looks like hogan will be completely isolated. Hope I’m proved wrong. Lots of kids to select on bench but I’m not holding my breath.
good signs early boro are not pressing villa high
snodgrass lost ball coming inside again.
villa building up nicely won a free kick in a dangerous area
very surprised boro are allowing villa to play out of defense